


Not So Conventional

by theauthor2010



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, F/M, Homophobia, Interracial Relationship, M/M, Unconventional Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-30
Updated: 2011-05-30
Packaged: 2017-10-19 22:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times a glee club member was harassed for their unconventional relationships and one time they were openly admired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not So Conventional

I.

"I want you to think of one time that you were harassed for who you loved or feelings that were unconventional..."

Will felt that his direction was simple. It was at the very end of a glee club meeting, just before they left. Santana and Brittany had been harassed the day before by some of the Cheerios. Sue had handled those Cheerios quite well, in his humble opinion, but it opened his eyes up to the fact that many, if not all, of his glee club kids were in or had been in very unconventional relationships. They had all dealt with harassment for who they chose to love. "If you guys want to come back and talk, or do a song about that moment, I think that it could be really beneficial," he declared. "I'll see you in class guys."

The next glee club meeting, Puck raised his hand.

"Yes, Puck?" Will asked hopefully.

"Lauren and I wanted to um, talk about being harassed a couple of weeks ago at the movies."

Lauren nodded slowly. "Some of Noah's old friends, older, college-aged guys totally tore into him for dating a fatass," she said bluntly.

He stared in horror, unable to believe that someone would have the audacity to speak to Lauren that way. She and Puck took turns telling their story.

 _"Puckerman, you have got to be shitting me."_

 _Puck looked up as he and Lauren walked out of the movie theater. He tightened his arm around his girlfriend and blinked. He recognized the guys who called out for him. They weren't great friends but they were dudes he used to hang out with from time to time. "Excuse me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Who's the cow?"_

 _His eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks. "You so did not say that about my girlfriend," he said, stepping in Lauren's way. Sure, she could kick all their asses back to last week herself, but Puck was a chivalrous kind of guy and you did not say stuff like that about the girlfriend he was in love with. "I suggest that you take that back and apologize to the lady."_

 _The boys chuckled. "Nah," said the first._

 _"Mooo," said the second, rolling his eyes. "Who are you kidding with a girl like that?"_

 _Now, Puck had been doing his best to avoid violence. He had learned from his stint in juvie and he wasn't going back, but still, he couldn't help lunge forward and grab the fucker by the collar. "I think you better apologize," he demanded, turning and shoving the older boy against the wall._

 _"Leave it, Noah," Lauren said, for once not looking ready for a fight. She pulled him back and slipped her hand down his back and grabbed his backside playfully. "Assholes like this are all around. They're just not man enough to handle all of this."_

 _As they walked off, even though she was tough as nails about it, Puck could tell the comments hurt her and that pissed him off._

"Puck, Lauren, I am so sorry," Will said. His shock was easy to see on his face. The rest of the glee club was sporting similar shocked expressions. Kurt shook his head in disgust and Finn looked almost confused. Sam looked over at Lauren and Puck sadly. Mercedes, who had been dating Sam for some time by that point, reached over and took Sam's hand.

"Guys like that don't matter Lauren," Mercedes said plainly. "A real man loves his girl no matter her body type. He also loves her because it's her, which makes it beautiful."

"Preach it girl," Kurt teased, grinning at Mercedes words. "Seriously though Lauren, those guys are dicks, you're amazing."

Will blinked at Kurt's blunt language but hell, he agreed with it.

"I also got a song for my girl," Puck said, launching into a rendition of "You Are So Beautiful" that he had to admit had him tearing up a little. This was not the Noah Puckerman he met the year before. His unconventional relationship had certainly changed him for the better.

"That was...wow, beautiful Noah," he said. "Um, anyone else want to talk? We still have some time."

Kurt raised his hand. Will had expected it. Openly gay and living in Lima, Ohio, Kurt had to deal with a lot of torment for being who he was. It couldn't be easy now that he had a boyfriend.

 

II.

Kurt sighed a little bit. "As you guys know," he said, giving a grand flourish, "homophobes are pretty common in this area and the local redneck population doesn't enjoy having gay shoved down their throats." Kurt was using his grand gestures and theatrics to hide some genuine hurt, Will realized, watching the dark look cross over his student's face. He had decided that he was going to be more receptive to the kids and listen to them, see things like the pain that crossed Kurt's eyes. "Blaine's really afraid of being gaybashed," he whispered, "because he was gaybashed pretty bad at his old school. He was waiting for me at my dad's shop."

Kurt breathed in deeply and looked like he wanted to cry. Will waited patiently while Kurt told his story.

 _"Are you done?" Blaine asked, giving Kurt one of those smiles that just melted Kurt's heart right where it counted. He felt bad for making Blaine wait, but he had promised to give his dad a little extra help at the shop and well after a few hours working with cars, he had to change and there was a whole regiment to that._

 _"Yes, I'm done," he said, leaning over and giving Blaine a light peck on the lips. It was so innocent that he didn't think a thing of it. He knew it wasn't fair but he avoided kissing more than that in public. He just figured that a small peck didn't mean anything and it didn't fall under his "watch for homophobes" senses. "Where are we going?"_

 _"Hell." Kurt flipped around to see a burly, muscular man with a slight accent. God, he was as much of a walking stereotype of hillbilly as Kurt was of a gay kid. "Who do you fags think you are spreading your disease around?" The man stepped forward but instead of focusing on Kurt, he focused on Blaine who looked like he was going to vomit. He took a step toward the boy and reached out to touch him. Blaine flinched like he was expecting a blow. "I'd like to teach you a lesson, coming in a decent place and acting like that."_

 _"Who the hell is he? He happens to be my son's boyfriend." Kurt was about to get in front of Blaine and get into a fight he knew he would lose when his father came out of the back room. "Nice to meet you. Burt Hummel. I own this nice place and you better get the hell out of here before I call the cops."_

Kurt looked up and shrugged a little bit. "I have a soundtrack of about a million songs about how special Blaine is and how screwed up it is that I can't kiss my boyfriend without people going insane," he said, shrugging again, more defeated then before. "It's stupid as anything I guess but that's here and now. Hopefully we'll find a better place when Blaine and I move to New York."

"You will Kurt."

The group was quiet so Will lead them through a couple of their group numbers before the club time ended.

 

III.

Mercedes spoke up during the next glee session. It was after a duet with Sam that had everyone gushing over the brand new couple. "I wanted to tell you guys about something," she said. "I wanted to tell you guys about this yesterday when we started talking about the relationships we have and the way people see us, but I had to talk to Sam first to make sure that it was okay with him."

"It was definitely okay with me," Sam said softly. "You'd think that people wouldn't give you any drama for being in an interracial couple because, hello, it's 2011 and people aren't supposed to care about that but well, my family didn’t react so nicely when I introduced them to Mercedes at a cousin’s birthday party.”

“It was kind of ridiculous,” she said. “You forget that people might see you as a bad person because of the color of your skin.”

"Go for it, Mercedes," Will said, surprised himself that people would give an interracial couple problems. He supposed that he too, forgot that there were still incredible racists out there.

 _Mercedes walked into the bathroom at the pizza place, closing herself into a stall for a moment to use the restroom and honestly just breathe. Being at a party with a large number of your boyfriend's family was stressful, to say the very least. She finished what she was doing when she heard one of Sam's cousins, a girl with a distinct Southern drawl, say something she couldn't believe. "Did you see that black chick Sammy was with?"_

 _"Uh yeah, it's sort of noticeable being that she's the only one in the room."_

 _"I never thought our little cousin would get involved with that sort. Not that I’m racist or anything…”_

 _“I know you’re not. I just don’t trust them.”_

 _"Me neither, Sammy's always been such a good kid."_

 _Mercedes gasped, loudly. She had experienced racism, of course, nobody was immune but to hear it so bluntly spoken and to have it implied that being black was a bad thing and that Sam was too good for a black girl broke her heart. She took a deep breath and opened the stall door. "It's just so nice meeting my boyfriend's family," she said sweetly, washing her hands and then returning to Sam._

“Mercedes told me afterward,” Sam said, shaking his head from side to side and looking up at Will. “I laid into them, of course, and told their parents. I always knew that my extended family was…um, old fashioned and conservative but at the same time I never realized they were racist or could be racist.”

“It was a punch in the face,” Mercedes admitted, shaking her head. “I just can’t believe anyone can judge each other for their color, their sexuality, their weight…any of this stupid stuff…it’s so ridiculous.”

“Kinda reminds me of when Artie and I were dating,” Brittany mumbled absently. Artie looked at her with big eyes, unsure of what she was talking about. “Remember when Annie and Stacy from the Cheerios called you an invader?”

“An invalid Brittany,” Artie mumbled. “Yeah people kind of suck when you’re in a wheelchair too, big surprise.”

“Do you want to share?” Will asked.

 

IV.

“Brittany and I had a lot of incidents like that one,” Artie said. He was still obviously very bitter over his breakup, so Will wasn’t sure he should have asked but he already had done it, “but I remember the one she’s talking about with the Cheerios. They really hurt her, because she thought that they were her friends.”

“They made comments about us having sex,” Brittany said pouting, “which is so stupid because we had awesome sex.”

“Hey,” Santana mumbled and Artie glared. Will knew then that he really shouldn’t have asked but he let Brittany tell her story. This was about letting the kids vent about things that had hurt them and times they had been harassed.

"You guys know how the Cheerios are," Artie said quickly.

"It was just when we started dating," Brittany said sadly. “Everyone thought that I was stupid for dating someone in a wheelchair, I guess, but it’s not stupid at all.”

 _"Come on Pierce," Annie said darkly. "I know you're a dumbass but you gotta be kidding me with the invalid."_

 _"Artie is totally a real person!" Brittany said loudly, pausing in the middle of the cafeteria. "I thought he was a robot at first too but he just uses a wheelchair because he can't walk. You should really apologize to my boyfriend now."_

 _The Cheerio at Annie's side, Stacy, crossed her arms. "How do you even do it?" she asked. "Cause God knows with a girl like you Britt, you have to be doing it. That’s kind of gross, like doing it with a kid or something.”_

 _“Hey watch out, she might, you never know.”_

 _“So lame,” Stacy lamented. “Brittany, you really need an upgrade.”_

Brittany shrugged a little bit, sadly, as she finished telling them her story. “It kinda sucks,” she admitted softly. “I can’t date anyone without something being wrong with them. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, exactly.”

“Nothing’s wrong with you Brittany,” Will said, not sure what else he could say. “People are just prejudiced against people they don’t understand. We’ve seen these last couple of conversations that it can be people who look different, have different abilities, act different or come from different cultures.”

“So the moral of the story is people suck?” Artie asked bitterly.

“No it’s not,” Mike mumbled quietly. He reached over and put his hand on Artie’s shoulder. “Dude, the moral of the story is that people are going to harass those who are different but we always have strong relationships.”

 

V.

“Santana, you need to talk about it.”

“No, I can’t.”

“You have to,” Brittany said, just as Will walked into the choir room. “Mr. Schuester made this assignment because of what happened to us and you need to talk about it. You were my hero Santana; you are my hero. You’re so brave and strong.”

“He thinks that we were just harassed by some Cheerios. You already showcased what bitches they are talking about Wheels. If we talk we’re going to have to reveal it was worse.”

“Maybe we should,” she whispered. “Coach Sylvester knows and we don’t even trust her.”

He tried to pretend not to hear as Santana lowered her head. He fumbled with his sheet music but he hoped that Santana would do what Brittany said. He could tell she was enduring a lot since she came out of the closet and he knew it would make her feel better. Santana was a tough girl who didn’t reveal her needs.

“Does anyone have anything they need to let out today?” he asked, trying not to look at Santana as he said it.

To his delight, she exhaled and spoke.

“You guys know B and I got messed with by some of the girls on the Cheerios,” Santana said with a deep exhalation. “What we didn’t tell you was that some of them brought some guys to gang up on us when we were outside after hours. They were their brothers and shit and they were scary as hell.”

 _Brittany always insisted on holding her hand, something that was fifty times as scary now that she was out. Brittany was so brave and unafraid, but Santana was scared, scared that anyone would see. “We should get over to your place,” Santana told Brittany sweetly. “C’mon B, let’s hurry.”_

 _“Okay, okay,” Brittany murmured._

 _They crossed through the school and went to take the football field as a shortcut. They turned around and saw some girls, still dressed in their Cheerios uniforms, along with some larger, older boys. “These the dykes?” a buff looking boy with red hair asked, shaking his head from side to side. He laughed and rolled his eyes. He was next to several other guys, some she recognized and some she never met._

 _“That’s them. Disgusting. We’re just lucky they’re not on the team anymore.”_

 _Brittany squeezed Santana’s hand, looking scared. Santana immediately sprung into action. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she asked, getting in front of the red haired creep. “You want a knife up your ass tough guy?”_

 _“Oh you were right, she is feisty.”_

 _One of them, she recognized. He had graduated the year before. James-something-or-other. Santana could remember sleeping with him. “So what?” he asked. “You opened your legs for any and everyone to get the gay out?”_

 _She knew that was exactly the case but she didn’t answer. He lunged for her and instead she pushed him away. There were too many to take on and she was scared “Back off you bastard,” she hissed. She usually was unafraid in a fight but her sexuality and the amount she’d slept around were those points that broke her._

 _She couldn’t even remember what happened. Someone grabbed Brittany and nobody, freaking nobody was going to touch her girlfriend. Brittany screamed. Santana lunged. People jeered._

 _“Fuck you all!” she screamed out, as someone hit her. “Fuck you bastards. I’m gay, yeah I’m gay and I love this girl. She’s the love of my life so you better freaking deal with it.”_

 _Santana laid a punch, a heavy blow that caught the red haired jerk in the nose._

 _“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS GOING ON OUT THERE?” Santana recognized that voice. Sue Sylvester._

“So that’s the story,” Santana mumbled. “I punched that bastard in the face and Coach Sylvester showed up. She brought down the rage of hell on them and helped Brittany and I press charges. She may be a she-devil but she really looked out for us.”

“She did,” Brittany added sweetly. “You okay San?”

Santana nodded slowly. “I need to go outside for a minute.” She got up, gave Will a thankful smile and then excused herself from the room. He could totally tell that a weight had been lifted from her. She looked happy, relieved and hopeful. It was nice to see it on her.

Brittany immediately got up and followed her. “Santana, are you really okay?” was all he heard before they were gone.

 

I.

“Brittany. Santana.”

It sounded like Sue Sylvester, it looked like Sue Sylvester, but Sue Sylvester had never called Brittany and Santana by their first names ever. It was always “bimbo,” “blondie,” “Boobs McGee,” and so on. Both girls turned around and found that it was indeed their former Cheerleading coach staring at them.

“What is it?” Santana asked, putting herself in front of Brittany like she usually did.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you two,” the woman said, sincerely. “My office, now.”

“We have glee club,” Brittany said absently.

“Will Schuester can wait,” Sue said seriously, taking them into her office and accepting no objections. They followed because they weren’t exactly given a choice. “I wanted to let you girls know that I have kicked a total of four girls off of the squad for what happened to you last week.”

“Congratulations for growing a pair of morals,” Santana said boldly. She used to be afraid of talking back to her Cheerios coach but now that she was no longer a member of the team, there was no reason not to be herself around Sue. It felt nice, honestly. “I guess that leaves you pretty short for competition.”

“That’d be another year of failure,” Brittany said.

The woman in front of them stopped and they could both see the insults forming on her lips but what came out was the furthest thing from what they expected. “It will be,” she said, “unless I can ask for two of my best back. I have to admit this to you, girls, but I’ll deny it to the death if asked: I admire you two. You have courage that I haven’t seen on many girls your age. San- Santana, you’re brave and bold and defend the person you’re with in a way that few people can say they do. I’d like to think if I were capable of human emotion I would do the same. Brittany, you’re unashamed and proud of who you are, even if other people don’t like it.”

Santana looked over at Brittany and found that Brittany was smiling.

“I’d like to make an announcement tomorrow at school, announcing you both as co-captains.”

Santana looked at Brittany and they quickly nodded.

The next day at school, Sue, of course, arranged an announcement to be read over the loud speaker. Everyone, Will included, turned around and looked when Sue’s voice boomed through the campus: “McKinley Staff and Students, this is Coach Sue Sylvester. Of course it is, you already knew that. I would like to announce that for the 2011-2012 school year, the Cheerios have parted ways with Annette Rodgers, Isabella Johnson, Meg Rowland and Annie Sanchez. Our co-captains will be Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce. You should bow to those girls with the same respect you do me. They are worthy of every bit of admiration.”

Will, who was sitting in the teacher’s lounge when the announcement came through, looked up, wondering if his lesson had at least gotten through to one individual. It seemed that it had.


End file.
